Cape Watch: Loki Returns and Channing Tatum Gets His Own Gambit Movie

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Cape Watch: Loki Returns and Channing Tatum Gets His Own Gambit Movie

Marvel Studios (left), Marvel Entertainment (right)

After monopolizing the news for the last couple of weeks with trailer debuts and announcements of a handful of new projects, Marvel Studios ceded the metaphorical floor to some other studios this week, just in time for both Sony Pictures and 20th Century Fox to get some attention for their Spider-Man and X-Men spin-offs, respectively.

That's not to say that Marvel was unfairly shunned. The excitement around the Avengers studio is so great that even vague comments in interviews can end up spiraling into "news stories," leading to such things as poor Jessica Chastain having to disappoint the Internet by clarifying that she really wasn't talking to the studio about playing Captain Marvel. (Let's be honest, that role is Emily Blunt's to lose, surely.)

That said, if you're looking to read up on things that actually have happened, we've got you covered. Here are the highlights of the week's superhero movie news.

SUPER IDEA: Loki Coming Back to Play with the Avengers

In an interview with The Telegraph newspaper, Idris Elba let it slip that both he and Tom Hiddleston will be making appearances in next year's Avengers: Age of Ultron as Heimdall and Loki, respectively—a surprise, considering previous statements from those involved in the movie suggested we wouldn't see either character until 2017's Thor: Ragnarok.Why this is super: Given the size of the fanbase for Hiddleston's Loki, this just seems like a smart move—doubly so when you consider that the character is probably one of the three most charming characters in Marvel's movies to date. (The other two are Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark and Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson, if you're wondering.) Sure, Marvel execs are likely unhappy that the cat's out the bag about his appearance so early, but it'll undoubtedly get more people excited about the movie, which is ultimately a win for everyone.

SUPER IDEA: Gambit Getting His Own Movie

After months of suspecting that the movie was merely the product of Channing Tatum's dreams, it turns out that Fox really is spinning X-Men character Gambit off into his own movie, with *Robocop'*s Josh Zetumer writing a script based on an original story by the character's co-creator Chris Claremont.Why this is super: Admittedly, we're not huge fans of Gambit. Nonetheless, there are a couple of good things about this news. Firstly, seeing Chris Claremont get directly involved in the X-Men movies is lovely; hopefully, he's getting paid a lot of money and can consider it some kind of reward for working on the comics for almost two decades. Secondly, seeing Fox expand the franchise away from just doing movies featuring Xavier, Magneto, and/or Wolverine is a very welcome thing indeed. More of this, please. An X-Statix movie, for example, would be nice.

SUPER IDEA: Wonder Woman Going Back in Time

An unusual rumor about 2017's Wonder Womanshowed up this week, suggesting that the movie will be set in the 1920s and tell the origin of the character set against a war between different factions of Amazons trying to take control of Paradise Island. According to the rumor, a projected sequel to the movie would then feature the character in World War II, with a third movie finally bringing her to the modern day—a century or so after her "debut" in the first installment.Why this is super: This is a weird one, but if it's true, there are a couple of things it does that are worth noting. For one, it gives Warner Bros./DC its own Captain America and expands the DC cinematic universe back in time beyond the start of Man of Steel, which might come in useful in later movies. For another, it apparently means that Wonder Woman was the first superhero in the DC cinematic universe, which is unusual but welcome news—and it gives fodder for future stories should Warners want them. Also, what does it mean to have a woman as the inspiration for all the other heroes that follow? (Note: We don't expect that kind of thing to be explicitly followed up in the movies, but we're fascinated by the potential anyway.)

SUPER IDEA: Peggy Carter Will Show Up in Ant-Man

Not content with making cameos in both Captain America movies to date and a couple of episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a casting call for stand-ins has revealed that Agent Peggy Carter (Haley Atwell) will be showing up in next year's non-Avengers Marvel movie. Considering earlier rumors that Howard Stark would also be making an appearance, it's beginning to look as if Paul Rudd's superhero debut might be tied far closer to the main Marvel Cinematic Universe than it first appeared.Why this is super: Now that Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) has been lost to television, it makes sense that Marvel would want a replacement to tie the various movies together. That it's turned out to be Peggy, who was so great in the first Cap movie, is just plain awesome.

SUPER IDEA: The Heroines of Spider-Man's Life Making Glass Ceiling

Suggesting that Sony's Spider-Man franchise wasn't as dead as many assume it is just yet, Badass Digest reported last week the studio is considering making an all-woman superhero team movie using Spider-Man's supporting cast, under the meta-textual title Glass Ceiling. (This title is, sadly, unlikely to stick should the movie make it to screens.) The heroines in question? The Black Cat, Silver Sable, Spider-Girl, and newcomer Silk, who recently debuted in the current Amazing Spider-Man comic book series.Why this is super: Following the Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel news, the fact that Sony was actually the first studio to announce it was working on a solo female-led movie got lost somehow. If this project means that it can regain some of the plaudits due (and perhaps also pass comment on the status of women in superhero movies in general), then all the better.